Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Help Greg: Do You Know A Salad Bar Restaurant?

Greg wrote me with a question: "Do you know of any all-you-can-eat salad bar restaurants in the greater Howard County/Baltimore County area? I am looking for something like the Souplantation or Sweet Tomatoes. There was a restaurant in Columbia (across from the mall with a view of the lake) about 8 years ago that closed."

I can't think of a salad bar restaurant. I have used the salad bar at Roots, but I can't think of a restaurant. Anyone?

Interesting that commenters are posting about Fogo de Chao because I believe the restaurant Greg is talking about that used to be on the lake is Malibu Grill, which closed years ago. It also was a churrascaria. Alas, there are only two remaining ant they are in Northern Va.

Oh, Greg. I, too, miss the awesomeness that is Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation. I have searched all over the web (including FULL discussions on Chowhound on the subject of comparable salad bars) and sent more than one letter to corporate begging for them to open a branch here in the DC/Baltimore area. All to no avail. From what I can tell, nothing around here offers that level of fresh ingredients, wide selection of salad, and soups/breads/dessert for a reasonable all-you-can-eat price. Instead, the best salad bars in the area are paid per pound. And let's just be frank, paying per pound sucks. :-)

Emkenton, I would TOTALLY join the campaign to bring an all-you-can-eat salad bar place that lives up to those that our fellow foodies living in the West Coast and Southern regions enjoy.

After we get that done, then could we start the campaign for a Jamba Juice? :-)

Years ago, (over 15 years ago) there was a all-you-can-eat healthy foods buffet in the space that is now occupied by the Red Pearl. It was part of a chain. It was cafeteria style. It was pretty good too. I am trying to remember the name.

I remember the Malibu too. In the same space. Nowhere as good as Fogo de Chao. Yum, Fogo de Chao.

The one that I'm remembering on the lakefront in the Malibu Grill/Jesse Wong's/Red Pearl spot was Sergeant Pepper's, which did have a really nice salad bar with some premade salads in addition to making one's own. It also had soups, pizza, and a nice dessert bar. I still miss it sometimes.

I also really miss Sgt. Peppers at the Columbia lakefront and am surprised at the lack of salad bars in Maryland (I lived in CA for several years where we had Souplantation and Soup Exchange which were awesome). The only salad bar I've found is Golden Bull in Gaithersburg. It is a bit far but way better than Ruby Tuesday which I think is kind of gross.